Murder in Successville | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy |
Created by | Andy Brereton Avril Spary |
Directed by | James de Frond |
Starring | Tom Davis |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Producers | Andy Brereton Ed Sleeman |
Running time | 30 minutes (approx) |
Production company | Tiger Aspect Productions |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Three |
Release | 6 May 2015 – 24 May 2017 |
Murder in Successville is a British sitcom with improvisational elements created by Andy Brereton and Avril Spary. The series aired on BBC Three from 6 May 2015 to 24 May 2017. Murder in Successville stars Tom Davis as DI Desmond Sleet who is partnered with a guest celebrity every episode to solve a murder. [1] The cast of every episode includes impersonations of various celebrities who live in the fictional Successville.
Celebrities are transposed into fictional versions that fit into the setting of Successville, such as Alan Carr who in Successville's universe is a mobster and brother to Jimmy Carr. Liam Hourican appears as Police Chief Gordon Ramsay in each episode, introducing the guest celebrity at the start and revealing whether they have picked the correct killer at each episode's conclusion.
Celebrities who have participated include Jamie Laing, Greg James, Deborah Meaden, Dermot O'Leary, Chris Kamara, Richard Osman and Martin Kemp.
All episodes are set in the modern day, except the series 3 episode with Martin Kemp, who travelled back in time to the first murder in Successville.
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 6 | 6 May 2015 | 10 June 2015 | |
2 | 6 | 15 June 2016 | 20 July 2016 | |
3 | 6 | 19 April 2017 | 24 May 2017 |
Episode no. | Title | Guest star | Original air date | UK viewers (in millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Mob" | Jamie Laing | 6 May 2015 | TBA | |
When Bruno Tonioli is murdered, DI Sleet and new recruit Jamie Laing must interview Tonioli's ex-wife Darcey Bussell and explore the underworld of Successville's mobs headed by the Carr twins (Jimmy and Alan), and their rivals Harry Styles and his One Direction gang. | |||||
2 | "Bunch of Cults" | Greg James | 13 May 2015 | TBA | |
When Reese Witherspoon is found murdered, Greg James teams up with DI Sleet to uncover the culprit. Reverend Gary Barlow, Brian Cox, Justin Bieber and Mary Berry are all suspects in the case. | |||||
3 | "Dead, Rich and Famous" | Deborah Meaden | 20 May 2015 | TBA | |
A call to Lady Gaga's mansion over a case of topiary vandalism soon leads to the discovery of a murder and its time for new recruit Deborah Meaden to partner with DI Sleet and discover whether Cheryl, Jay-Z, Boris Johnson or Nicki Minaj is responsible. | |||||
4 | "Mayor the Force Be with You" | Dermot O'Leary | 27 May 2015 | TBA | |
The murder of Amanda Holden leads DI Sleet and Dermot O'Leary to discover that Mayor Simon Cowell has been kidnapped. Miley Cyrus, Jessie J and Alan Sugar are all suspects and its up to O'Leary to find the culprit. | |||||
5 | "Dr Death" | Kimberly Wyatt | 3 June 2015 | TBA | |
DI Sleet tries to track down a killer at Successville Hospital with the help of guest stars Graham Norton and Kimberley Wyatt. This week's murder suspects include nurse Adele, doctor Barack Obama and surgeons Bob Geldof and Andy Murray. | |||||
6 | "Orangefinger" | Louis Smith | 10 June 2015 | TBA | |
The detectives learn that pharmacist Lindsay Lohan has been spray-tanned to death, before tonight's beauty pageant organized by businessman Russell Brand, a pageant in which Sleet and gym owner Vladimir Putin are judges, and psychopathic killer Kim Kardashian is a contestant. Forensic pathologist Richard Hammond shows them the body and journalist Lily Allen is murdered during the case. |
Episode no. | Title | Guest star | Original air date | UK viewers (in millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (7) | "Vigilante" | Vicky Pattison | 15 June 2016 | TBA | |
On his birthday, Sleet's arrested for the murder of Nick Knowles when the body is discovered in the detective's car. Rookie cop Vicky Pattison breaks him out and together they hunt the real killer. Interrogating politician Len Goodman, breaking into Sleet's former lover's apartment (Lorraine Kelly) and questioning Sleet's rival Lewis Hamilton. | |||||
2 (8) | "Miranda" | Mark Wright | 22 June 2016 | TBA | |
DI Sleet and Mark Wright visit Daniel Radcliffe to find out who is dealing a new drug, nicknamed 'Miranda'. Radcliffe is killed so they start their investigation by going undercover to interrogate biker gang leader Paul Hollywood at a bar. Mark heads to Successville's most notorious drug lord Frankie Boyle's house to interrogate him, before finally heading into Scumville to question low-life druggies Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. | |||||
3 (9) | "A Horse Called Alan" | Chris Kamara | 29 June 2016 | TBA | |
DI Sleet and Chris Kamara discover that Sleet's close friend, Successville's most successful race horse, Alan Shearer has been murdered. Jockey Tom Daley points them to suspects, promoter John Bishop, model Cara Delevingne, and Sheik Kanye West. | |||||
4 (10) | "Incognito" | George Shelley | 6 July 2016 | TBA | |
D.I Sleet and George Shelley investigate the murder of the hacker Ed Sheeran. Suspects include tech CEO Shia LaBeouf, DeathCorp honcho Sarah Millican and banker Jeremy Kyle. | |||||
5 (11) | "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" | Emma Bunton | 13 July 2016 | TBA | |
This week DI Sleet is joined by Spice Girl Emma Bunton, investigating the death of James May, a cop from North Successville. May's police partner Jeremy Clarkson explains the details of the crime, while Sleet takes a shine to Chief of Police Nigella Lawson. Suspects include Fisherman Ian McKellen, cafe owner Katy Perry and wild man Louis Walsh. | |||||
6 (12) | "Memoirs" | 'Clip Show', Jamie Laing | 20 July 2016 | TBA | |
Sleet reflectively takes us through his colourful memoirs as we see previously unseen moments from his life as a cop. |
Episode no. | Title | Guest star | Original air date | UK viewers (in millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (13) | "The Brass Gnome" | Richard Osman | 19 April 2017 | TBA | |
A piece of art is stolen, and Björk is murdered in the process. DI Sleet teams up with Richard Osman to investigate Arsène Wenger, Hillary Clinton, and Zayn Malik, with things coming to a head at an illegal art auction run by Bill Nighy. | |||||
2 (14) | "A Murder in Ye Olde Successville" | Martin Kemp | 26 April 2017 | TBA | |
Sleet travels back in time with Martin Kemp to investigate the death of lady of the night Rita Ora. Forensic pathologist Conor McGregor points them to suspects, brothel madam Paloma Faith, Professor will.i.am, posh gentleman Jamie Oliver and mailman Jonathan Ross. | |||||
3 (15) | "I Saw a Monster!" | Lorraine Kelly | 3 May 2017 | TBA | |
Sleet teams up with Lorraine Kelly to investigate the death of reporter Harry Hill, and sighting of a radioactive monster. When clues on Hill's body point them towards Hill's ex girlfriend Madonna, Ant & Dec and factory owner David Walliams, things take a turn for the worse. | |||||
4 (16) | "A Nest of Vipers" | Reggie Yates | 10 May 2017 | TBA | |
Sleet and Yates investigate the murder of undercover detective Noel Edmonds. They make a side trip to Sharon Osbourne’s Bandeoke night, before heading to an assassin's conference where they investigate killers Venus and Serena Williams and hitman Adrian Chiles. | |||||
5 (17) | "A Rat's Tale" | Professor Green | 17 May 2017 | TBA | |
Sleet and Green hunt down the killer of Commissioner Bear Grylls with the help of their alter egos, Rattman, Yonder Woman and Dormouse. A note left from the Commissioner points them to tech millionaire Piers Morgan, reporter Beyoncé Police Chief Gordon Ramsay and county councillor Alex Jones. | |||||
6 (18) | "The Big Sleet" | [Clip Show] | 24 May 2017 | TBA | |
Sleet must make his hardest decision yet. With some self-reflection on his past adventures, he must decide which persona to turn his back on forever, Rattman or Cop. |
In January 2022, it was announced that Netflix would be making an American adaptation of the series, titled Murderville. Murderville does away with the original series' concept of all the town residents being celebrity impersonations; instead, the townspeople (including all the murder suspects) are simply fictional characters. [2]
The Netflix adaptation is produced by and stars Will Arnett as the character senior detective Terry Seattle and features guest stars Conan O'Brien, Annie Murphy, Ken Jeong, Kumail Nanjiani, Marshawn Lynch and Sharon Stone. All six episodes of Murderville premiered on 3 February 2022. [3]
House of Cards is a 1990 British political thriller television serial in four episodes, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised by the BBC from 18 November to 9 December 1990. Released to critical and popular acclaim for its writing, direction, and performances, it is considered one of the greatest British television shows ever made.
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is also the name by which the performers are known when they appear elsewhere as a double act. The show was given one of the highest budgets in BBC history to create detailed spoofs and satires of popular culture, movies, celebrities, and art. French and Saunders continued to film holiday specials for the BBC, and both have been individually successful starring in other shows.
Matthew Keith Hall, known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an offbeat, energetic performance style that fused elements of surrealism, observational comedy, slapstick, satire and music. When performing, he usually wears browline glasses and a dress shirt with a distinctive oversized collar and cuffs.
A look-alike, or double, is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of family resemblance.
Jason Kent Bateman is an American actor and director. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox / Netflix sitcom Arrested Development (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark (2017–2022), as well as for his work in numerous comedy films. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
James Anthony Patrick Carr is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of one-liners which have been known to offend some people. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regularly appeared on television as the host of Channel 4 panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
Midsomer Murders is a British crime drama mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series created by Caroline Graham. It has been broadcast on the ITV network since its premiere on 23 March 1997. The series focuses on various murder cases that take place within small country villages across the fictional English county of Midsomer, and the efforts of the senior police detective and his partner within the fictional Midsomer Constabulary to solve the crime by determining who the culprit is and the motive for their actions. It differs from other detective dramas in featuring a mixture of lighthearted whimsy and dark humour, as well as a notable soundtrack with a title theme that includes a theremin.
Paul Kaye is an English comedian and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Thoros of Myr in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2013–17). He started as shock interviewer Dennis Pennis on The Sunday Show (1995–97). His other TV roles include Mike Strutter in the MTV series Strutter (2006–2007), Vince the fox in the BBC black comedy series Mongrels (2010–2011), Vinculus in the BBC fantasy mini-series Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015), Psychiatrist in the Netflix comedy series After Life (2019–20), Malcolm Donahue in the ITV crime drama Vera (2019–23), and Patrick Katz in the Netflix thriller mini-series The Stranger (2020).
Extras is a British sitcom about extras working in television, film, and theatre. The series was co-produced by the BBC and HBO, and written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, both of whom starred in it. It follows the lives of Andy Millman (Gervais), his friend Maggie Jacobs and Andy's substandard agent and part-time retail employee Darren Lamb (Merchant) as Millman muddles through life as an anonymous "background performer" who eventually finds success as a B-list sitcom star.
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and double entendre.
Benidorm is a British sitcom written and created by Derren Litten and produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV that aired for ten series from 1 February 2007 until 2 May 2018. The series features an ensemble cast of holiday makers and staff at the Solana all-inclusive hotel in Benidorm, Spain over the course of a week each year.
Death in Paradise is a crime comedy drama television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, Ardal O'Hanlon, Ralf Little and Don Gilet.
George Paul Shelley is an English singer, actor and presenter, and member of the boy band Union J.
Martin John Kemp is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in EastEnders.
Tom Davis is an English actor and comedian best known for his role as DI Sleet in the BBC Three comedy Murder in Successville, and as Gary King in the BBC sitcom King Gary.
Rachel Sarah Parris is an English comedian, musician, actress and presenter. She hosts the satirical news show Late Night Mash.
Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the Drag Race television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series. Since the second season of the original American RuPaul's Drag Race series in 2010, the challenge has returned for every subsequent season. Typically arranged as a parody of Match Game, the challenge is a test of the contestants' skills at celebrity impersonation and improvisational comedy.
Murderville is an American comedic murder-mystery television series with improvised elements developed by Krister Johnson for Netflix. The series is based on the BBC Three television series Murder in Successville. Murderville premiered on February 3, 2022 with the release of all six episodes of the first season.
Luke Garrod Kempner is an English impressionist, comedian and actor. After appearing in various films and musicals, he established a career in comedy, developing his own stand-up comedy show, and has since appeared as an impressionist on numerous sketch shows including Newzoids (2016), Tracey Ullman's Show (2017), Murder in Successville (2017), Spitting Image (2020–2021), The Last Leg (2021) and Deep Fake Neighbour Wars (2023), as well as appearing regularly on Big Brother's Bit on the Side (2016–2018).